Naoko Tanba
Naoko Tanba is the winner of the Nagoya elementary tournament, located in the Aichi prefecture during her 6th year at Shumoku Elementary School. Friends and classmates call her Niwa-chan (ni-wa is an alternate reading for the kanji in her surname). Appearance Naoko has medium length black hair and dark eyes. Personality In her first appearance, Naoko comes off as quite arrogant, ordering her opponents to kneel down in front of her. It is later revealed that this was her opponents' idea, and that she simply expected them to honor their promise. It seems that Naoko has a very low tolerance for people who do not take things seriously, but otherwise she remains calm and reasonably polite. She has continued to be friends with Shino through middle school, telling Shino that her team made it to the Middle School national tournament, and she hopes to see Shino there as well. Playing style / Abilities She is very observant, spotting both of Kokoro's attempts at winning via traps. While attacking, she very aggressively goes for medium-sized open hands, even against opposing Riichi declarations. Plot Girls of Yumachi After winning her region, she asks the competitors to kneel down before her like they said they would. When they do not, she says they take pride in being worthless and should take this competition more seriously. Children's National Tournament Arc In the third round of the tournament she plays against Shino Shiratsuki, Kokoro Oroku, and Chiyoko Takahashi. Before the match Kokoro insults Chiyoko and proposes that the losers have to perform dogeza. Kokoro then says that was the wager in Naoko's prefectural match. She tells Kokoro that it was proposed by someone else but she doesn't mind because losing would be more vexing. Shino then tells her that she cannot go all out if she has to worry about that so they decide that the losers have to buy the winners juice. At the beginning of the match, Shino wins with a riichi tsumo, but when she tries it once more Naoko manages to ron her. Naoko wins again off of Chiyoko but Shino overtakes her with another tsumo. Later Kokoro ends the match by busting Chiyoko. Shino and Kokoro advance to the next round. When the match is over, she is seen with Chiyoko and is surprised that Shino bought them a drink. She asks Shino if it's out of pity but when she replies it's out of gratitude for playing with her, Naoko and Chiyoko accept it. However neither liked the taste of Durian and says that dogeza would've been easier. Later while watching the fourth round with Naoko, Chiyoko wonders if Shino and Kokoro will win the tournament. Naoko then tells her that only one can win and asks why Chiyoko played the 6-man which led to their defeat. She tries to get Naoko to change the subject by saying they should just drink their latte but to no avail. She then tells Naoko that she is sorry that her choice got her involved. Naoko then tells her that she doesn't really mind. Shimane Tournament Arc She texts Shino to do her best and to meet her in Tokyo. Category:Characters Category:Shumoku Elementary School